Wondering what wine goes best with what dish? Let an expert guide you through the perfect pairings.

By Jill Silverman Hough

1. Sweet Foods with Sweet Wines

Pair sweet foods with sweet wines. For example, chocolate and Port. If you pair a sweet food with an unsweet, or dry, wine, it can make the wine taste sour or, in a red wine, it can accentuate those bitter, dry-mouth tannins. Even a dish that's just a little bit sweet, like honey-glazed ham or chicken with mango salsa, can have enough sweetness to make a dry wine taste less than ideal. So while sweet dishes need sweet wines, slightly sweet dishes often need slightly sweet, or off-dry, wines.